Day Two: Lessons From the Road

Hey Everybody!

I got some real sleep last night and guess what I just found: the blog I kept rewriting! So, here it is (sort of) but modified with today's happenings.

After a marathon night of cleaning and a few hours sleep (and accidently breaking the glasstop stove while cleaning...oops!), I finally took to the road! It didn't take long to decide that day one was all about working out the kinks. Actually, today is too, but at least I have some travel legs under me now. What I have learned:

1. When a website indicates that an attraction closes at 4:30p - even in season - they mean it!

2. When the lighthouse you want to climb seems inaccessible, then it probably is. That was yesterday; today I climbed the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. A couple facts about this old lighthouse: The brackets that look like concrete are actually granite - making it the only lighthouse in the world to have them. There are 107 stairs to the top, which the 84 yr old guide climbs 9x daily! And, most of us thought going down was much harder than going up! Finally, the man who created the Frensel lens took his secrets to the grave. To this day nobody has been able to make glass of such quality!

The view at the end of the climb:

3. When you've only had about three hours sleep it is unlikely you will drive all the way to The Keys....and more likely that you will choose the hotel with pillowtop mattresses (what luck!) and that's okay too! But finally this afternoon I set up my temporary home in Key Largo. Tomorrow I'll travel south to explore, but spend a second night in Key Largo before heading north on Saturday.

4. When dressing it's important to check to make sure your clothing is on right before leaving for dinner! I wish I were kidding, but no.....I got as far as the security guard at the campground gate when I had to stop and turn around. "What do you need?" he asked. "Oh I already checked in," I said. "I just need to run into the restroom because I put my shirt on backwards." At least I caught it before dinner.

5. If you want to see the rocks at Blowing Rocks Nature Preserve blow, then go during high tide - not low tide. But even at low tide you will get splashed when you try try to outsmart the surf by hiding between rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

So far all is well - going smoothly despite the kinks. I hope all is well at your end too. I'll be in touch again soon.

Day One

Hey Everybody! This is my 3rd attempt to post tonight. I don't know what happened to the first two. I am in the Jupiter area for the night and will try again soon!

Today's coolest find was beach access 44 in Jupiter! I saw this hole from the street and had to know if it really went to the beach; it does! This might be Florida's best hidden beach path...anybody else have a favorite cool beach path?

This is Jupiter's Lighthouse as seen from a legal viewing area. I hope to climb to the top soon.

 

Those Gulf Beaches....

Hey Everybody!

I know, I know....I'm supposed to be on the road. But this weather is SO very nice that I keep jumping in the water.  Even the Pelicans are out and about. 

For those of you out of state, this is Beer Can Island's current amateur fort...the best one I've seen here in ages. If only my tent had been with me I could have claimed it - at least until the local police came 'round.

I promise that the next post will be from the East Coast of Florida...soon, very soon.....

You are awesome!!!

Just wanted to tell everyone thank you one more time for hanging out on such a perfect island night! I so appreciate and enjoy your enthusiasm for my big adventure!! Stay tuned!!

tomato sauce email to blog test

I am writing this blog from my apartment via email. It is supposed to post the message and attached photo immediately to the blog - would be perfect for those times when I have limited access. So, for fun I thought I'd test with a photo from my pre-trip kitchen. I promise the actual trip will be much more interesting than this!! This is tomato sauce before and after the tomato sauce leather has been torn and bagged for camp cooking convenience. It's a beautiful thing when an 8oz can turns into 0.5 ounce bag! One last note, I think I have corrected the blog settings now so that anyone can post a comment.  

The Atlantic Coast - Day 1 [trip's soft start]

Greetings from Florida! 

I have not left. I have not finished packing. But sometimes a girl just needs to run away from the piles, the boxes and the multiple “To Do” lists taped to the fridge! I went as far as I could imagine: Space!

Well, the Space Coast anyway…

The cleverly named Rocket Garden

As it turns out, the Kennedy Space Center guides are working diligently to spread the message that the space program is not really dead. This new orbiter - Orion - is the beginning of the next generation of crew-capable orbiters. They hope it will carry US astronauts to the space station...

Orion was in the VAB [Vehicle Assembly Bldg], which is open [probably until September] for guide-only tours after 30 years. The VAB is a massive [and otherwise indescribable!] structure that quickly becomes a living, breathing place as one reads the banners draped from multiple levels. 

 As the history lesson soaked in the guide directed our attention to the right:

Seeing “United States” emblazoned on the now retired Atlantis [in transition and being prepped for display at the Kennedy Space Center] calls up so much national pride and awe it nearly brings tears to the eyes. I’m embarrassed to admit that my second thought was: “It looks so small!” I blame this on location – when you are standing in a building the size of a small country it’s easy to forget that Atlantis can ride piggyback on an airplane! Wondering about the missing piece? It’s away for the removal of dangerous chemicals. 

To learn more about rockets stop in at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. Here you can touch a moon rock, see some very cool [and old] spacesuits, walk under a huge Saturn V rocket, and see the Apollo 14 command capsule: 

I spent about 6 hours here between the tour and independent wandering. It could easily be expanded into another day. It was my first visit and I definitely recommend it as a worthwhile stop when you’re in Florida.

Merritt Island is beautiful and worth the visit even without the Kennedy Space Center, as it is a National Wildlife Refuge. Alligators, turtles, and birds were abundant – mostly alligators on this trip.

By the time I got home, it was a clear and beautiful island night. As I often do on such nights I looked up at the stars. This time, however, I recalled the IMAX movie about the Hubble Telescope and its incredibly beautiful photographs of dying stars and star nurseries.  

The Arctic - Day 6 (6/14/12)

Hello once again from the high arctic! 

Overnight we picked up our northward route again - back to the 80* North point. In fact, we got to nearly 81* this morning at Sjuoyane (the 7 Islands) and explored the edge of the ice pack from our zodiacs. From here to the north pole is 580 nautical miles and sea ice blocks all routes for now. This area is one of the most difficult areas of Svalbard to reach given the ice conditions and limited charting. At the moment we were st the Seven zidlands two things are likely true: there are no people further north than we are here & ice/snow covers the surface from here to the north pole.

The front end of the zodiac at the edge of the ice pack....

What's hard to believe is that this is all new (this winter's) snow that has been shaped by the wind, currents, and shifting ice under the surface. Some of the sea ice below the surface looks like it might be one story deep, but it's hard to really know without measuring.

There are no glacial icebergs here - it is sea ice only. This is the environment that seals and polar bears need & it is sorely lacking for this time of the year.

Our ship in the open water between the mountains and the ice pack.

See what happens when the cold finally gets to you! People start putting on bathing suits and posing for photos....

We had the opportunity to see the color effect that sometimes occurs at the poles after midnight (anybody remember the term?). This blue color in a glacial valley occurred well after midnight, and slowly stretched over a couple of glaciers.

As I write it is 1:30am and we are just leaving the "red fjord" where we searched again for polar bears. There were two, but once again at too great a distance for the naked eye. While disappointing from the point of view of tourists, I have to say that the absence of closeup viewing both speaks to the scale of this place as well as to the solitary life of a polar bear. I'm sorry to report there was more trash than ice passing the boat in this fjord - I saw 2 large fishing nets, lots of plastic, rubber gloves, and a guide thinks she saw a toilet!

Tomorrow we are off to an old mining camp and a very large glacier if we can get there. More soon. Thanks for stopping by!